About 51% of students return to classroom for back to school

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  • Osceola County School District
    Osceola County School District
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A little more than half of Osceola County School District students decided to return to the classroom on the first day back to school on Monday.

Superintendent Debra Pace said about 51 percent of students were welcomed back in the classroom with face coverings due to COVID-19.

The other students either decided to take part of digital learning or go to Osceola Virtual School.

Pace was out Monday morning where she visited elementary, middle and high schools

“I have to say I was pleased,” Pace said. “I was very proud of our students and community and obviously our teachers, staff members and administrators for everything they’ve done to prepare.”

Students are required to wear facial coverings the entire school day.

“Wearing facial coverings was just a non-issue,” Pace said. “I didn’t have to remind one student. They were just really cooperative.”

There were some minor hiccups the first day, Pace said. There were some technological issues and some of the buses were late.

“A lot of parents wanted to take their children to school today (Monday), so traffic was a little bit crazy, but none of the buses I saw were crowded,” said Pace. In fact, we had some buses that hardly had one or two kids on it.”

Dana Schafer, public information officer for the School District of Osceola County, said that the school district will be implementing the following measures for school bus transportation to safeguard the health and safety of its students, the bus drivers, and the bus attendants as they head back to school this fall:

• The school district will provide each student with five washable masks / face coverings.

• Bus drivers / personnel will provide disposable masks / face coverings for students who have not brought their own.

• Students will be asked to practice social distancing and wear masks/face coverings while waiting for the bus at the bus stop.

Hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed on the buses for students to use as they board the bus.

• Students will be expected to wear masks /face coverings for the duration of the bus ride.

• Students will be seated no more than two per seat (the seats are designed to seat three students per seat according to the FAQ section on the school district’s transportation services website page).

• The windows of the buses will be down for increased air flow and ventilation.

• Each bus will be thoroughly cleaned every night.

• ESE (Exceptional Student Education) students will also have attendants on the buses to assist them with the new procedures. Students will not be able to choose.

School officials are also working on better social distancing as middle and high school students were seen gathering together in their groups, Pace said. Students were encouraged to get to class.

“The main thing is it’s going to take a lot of patience from everybody,” Pace said. “We are going to be patient with students and we hope parents will be patient with us as we work through the next couple of days and work out the bugs of back to school.”

In classrooms throughout Osceola County, desks are spaced at least four feet apart and students will face one direction.

And if by chance COVID-19 does flare up in the schools, officials are ready to make learning changes.

“We have revised our curriculum learning unit plans this summer so we can easily transition to digital learning if we needed to,” Pace said.